Good News on the Mountains
12 Yahweh says: “Though they are in full strength and likewise many, even so they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 Now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.” 14 Yahweh has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, I will cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.” 15 Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.
The yoke breaks, and a runner appears on the hills with the news — the same figure Isaiah uses for the gospel itself.
God speaks directly for the first time, and speaks to Judah. Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. Assyria's numbers are conceded and dismissed in a clause, and the affliction is owned as God's own act — which is what makes ending it worth anything.
Verse 13 breaks the yoke. Verse 14 sentences the king: no descendants to bear his name, his gods cut from their house, a grave prepared. For a monarch whose inscriptions existed to guarantee remembrance, erasing the name is the sharpest blow. Then verse 15 lifts the eyes to the hills — the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace. Isaiah uses the picture for salvation itself Isaiah 52:7 and Paul for gospel preaching Romans 10:15.
settled What this mark means